"One week I didn't want to eat anything other than cottage cheese wraps with sunflower seeds. Then it was barbecue flavoured crisps with baked beans. Such powerful, impossible-to-ignore urges. I've literally been running out the door to get to the supermarket."
Louise

"I remember buying olives, and by the time I got to the checkout, I was actually shaking, I wanted to eat them so much."
Cat

"I adore mashed potato and gravy so much that every dinner is planned according to what goes with
it."
Sylvia

"I just ate half a jar of silverskin onions. The vinegar cuts right through my morning sickness, though my boyfriend can't stand the smell. He keeps thinking there's been a gas leak!"
Mel

Drinks that hit the spot

And to wash down all that mashed potato, here are the thirst-quenchers that mums-to-be craved.

"I drank a litre of tomato juice the other day. I guess my body or baby needed the vitamins."
Louise

"This is my fourth baby, and it's been chilled milk all the way. I'm drinking six pints a day. I am the calcium queen."
Cara

"Since 10 weeks I've been craving champagne, usually at night. Sometimes I can't sleep because I'm thinking about the bottle in the cupboard downstairs that someone inconsiderately bought me for my birthday." Alicia

"My husband let me dip my finger in his cider at the weekend and it was heaven! Weird."
Tamsin

"I drank litres of apple juice. I can remember crying my heart out on the kitchen floor because we'd run out."
Vicky

"I'm having beer cravings! A craving I can't appease is like an itch left unscratched."
Kim

Sweet treats

A sweet tooth can become even sweeter in pregnancy, whether that means a bar of chocolate, or a more virtuous juicy nectarine. See healthy snacks: trimester by trimester for alternatives to high-sugar options.

"My cravings have been so unhealthy. Butterscotch and chocolate angel delight and custard creams are all I can think about."
Victoria

"I loved anything with a citrus flavour. I ate bags of oranges and nectarines, but tried to hold off on the jaffa cakes, as I'd have quite easily demolished a whole packet in one sitting.”
Kate

"I was obsessed with grapefruit (which I normally hate). I'd have four or five a day, and would even send my husband to the all-night supermarket to stock up so I wouldn't wake up in the night, panicking that we had none left!
Then I got pregnant with my little boy, and my husband came home with about 20 grapefruits. The sight of them made me want to throw up. I made him take them out of the house."
Beth

"I'm mad about Cheerios without milk at the moment. I always eat the white ones first."
Emily

"Millionaire's shortbread and Toblerone. The more the better, or at least that's what my body is
unfortunately telling me."
Marie

Cold and crunchy

Sometimes only something teeth-jarringly cold or satisfyingly crunchy will do. Some of these also helped mums-to-be to curb their morning sickness.

"Ice cubes and Polo mints. All I did was crunch for nine months!"
Lisa

"I've been eating refrigerated fruit like there's no tomorrow. Juicy oranges, grapes and pineapple, but I'm also tucking into satsumas and clementines. They are just so refreshing."
Jess

"I adored raw carrots, just couldn't get enough of them. Maybe it was the betacarotene in them? Or maybe the crunch kept me awake while battling with tiredness in the first few months."Molly

Incredible non-edibles

Some mums-to-be craved the smell of, and sometimes imagined tasting (not recommended by Babycentre) non-edible substances. The desire to eat non-foods is called pica.

"I crave the smell of Radox rosemary stress-relief bath soak. I love it so much I could eat it. I can't pass the bathroom without going for a sniff."
Terri

"I needed anything dusty! I loved Shake 'n' Vac. People stopped visiting because I used so much that they said they couldn't breathe. I also craved bath salts, and ate a teaspoon every night. I could have eaten more but was worried that it wasn't exactly good for me."
Ceris

"My craving was the shower head. I used to turn on the cold water and squirt it into my mouth. I'd wake up in the night and head straight for the shower."
Gina

"I had a craving for sand and gravel. I live next to a beach, which was a bit of a nightmare. I couldn't stop thinking about drinking sand."
Sara

"I loved chewing sponges in all my three pregnancies, especially after the sponge had been washed with Dove soap, and then rinsed."Bernice

"I've been chewing toothbrushes while the toothpaste's still on it."
Annie

"My craving was bathroom spray. I was drawn to the detergents aisle in the supermarket. I had a spotless bathroom. I also had to fight the urge to drink the fabric conditioner. It smelt so good!"
Dina

"I would seek out sand and cement, and sometimes wanted to lick the walls. I had hyperemesis gravidarum but felt hungry for most of the time."
Sophie

Unique combinations

How about these for some imaginative snacks.

"My cousin had a strange liking for mashed potato with caramel sauce. I'm glad I never had to be there to witness it."
Joanna

"Yesterday I had sausages with strawberry jam. What's that all about?"
Jeanie

"At my worst I had a bacon and Mars bar burger. At my best, I drank litres of sparkling water with lots of lemon juice and sea salt."
Hannah

And finally…

"I just crave food. Any food. If I see an advert for a type of food, I want that food!"
Melissa

But don't worry if you don't feel these urges for specific foods and smells. It's as normal not to have any food cravings as it is to have them. And by the looks of some of these combinations, you should probably thank your lucky stars!

Last reviewed: May 2013

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Comments

I am hungry the majority of the time but deciding what to eat is a nightmare! Everything I think of just makes me feel ill lol. I've no real cravings this time around, I think I fancy something and make it, then don't really enjoy it!! Still I'm not complaining, it's all part of this miracle we call pregnancy ☺️

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